layman
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Middle English layman, lay man, equivalent to lay (“non-clergy”) + man. Cognate with Old Frisian lēkmann, lēkmonn (“layman”), obsolete Dutch leekeman (“layman”), Old High German leihman (“layman”), Danish lægmand (“layman”), Swedish lekman (“layman”), Norwegian lekmann (“layman”), Icelandic leikmaður (“layman”).
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
layman (plural laymen)
- Layperson, someone who is not an ordained cleric or member of the clergy.
- (by extension) Someone who is not a professional in a given field.
- Carmen is not a professional anthropologist, but strictly a layman.
- Let me explain it to you in layman's terms.
- A common person.
- A person who is untrained or lacks knowledge of a subject.
- 2005, Plato, translated by Lesley Brown, Sophist, page 221d:
- should he be held to be just a layman, or does he have some art?
- Lay-sister or lay-brother, person received into a convent of monks, following the vows, but not being member of the order.
Antonyms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
someone who is not an ordained cleric
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someone who is not a professional in a given field
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Anagrams[edit]
Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English compound terms
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- en:People
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